The talk

PHOENIX stands for Physics with Homemade Equipment and Innovative Experiments.

It is a hardware and software framework for carrying out computer interfaced scientific experiments. It is completely based on free and open source software.

It uses the Python programming language to interface the data acquisition hardware with the PC. It was started as a project to improve the laboratory facilities in Indian colleges and universities. More details can be found at http://www.iuac.res.in/~elab/phoenix.

The talk would introduce the audience to PHOENIX, its basic internals and how to use it. Also, some simple Physics experiments will be demonstrated using it. For example, measurement of the time period of a pendulum, charging/discharging of a capacitor etc. This would give the audience an idea of how to set up a Physics experiment for the PHOENIX kit.

The talk would also focus on the importance of using free software in education, and the potential of the PHOENIX project to make impacts in areas other than science, like teaching computer programming and electronics to kids.

Short Biography of Kishore Athrasseri

Phoenix(Physics with Homemade Equipment and Innovative Experiments) is a free software project which he have been associated with, and contributed a bit. He has been a free software user and enthusiast for over four years now.

He has been involved in organizing free software events in his college, and encouraging the migration to free software.